Its that time of year when the sun goes down earlier and earlier, now its beginning to set shortly after work hours. When the sun gets low it casts a subtle amber glow, some refer to this time as the golden hour. In the view, I am standing on Harley and Elmhurst looking due south towards the empty lot. Shadows were low and geese were flying by honking loudly.
Sun down empty lot, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2026
Starting with my shadow and bike shadow in a rich purple mix (PB60 + PV55 + PR102) I applied successive washes and texturing until a garden emerged. The foreground was just tilled earth, in the background some last flowers were blooming in yellow-orange with olive-green foliage. Its a tricky effect to get right, if the initial wash is too moist it all blends together, if its too pale the shadow shape disappears. Wearing my new glasses helped a lot to place the brush strokes and properly see the moisture levels on the paper, brush and palette.
My shadow community garden, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2026
No comments:
Post a Comment